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The Swanky Swine began, like everything begins, as an idea. It started in a conversation that went something like, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could start a program that would give our kids the skills they needed to get jobs?”

Then, “Wouldn’t it be really cool if we could start a business so our kids could have jobs in an environment that they are already flourishing in?”

Then, “What if our mascot was a pig with a mustache?” Admittedly, that part was a harder sell.

The question we get asked the most when we’re meeting parents, doing newspaper interviews or wearing our t-shirts is, “Where did you get that name?” The truth is, it all started with a piggy bank.

Before we opened our store, we identified one of our student’s biggest deficiencies was money management. Counting money is a critical functional skill for all students. It’s a skill that many of us take for granted but imagine how difficult life would be without it. Understanding currency is the first step towards self sufficiency and the ability to live independently in the community. It gives our students access to the things they need to purchase and the freedom to make these purchasing decisions on their own.

It’s not just counting change, its a necessary, foundational skill. Counting small change is the literally the beginning of big change (get it?!).

So we started with pennies, nickels dimes and quarters. We presented it a lot of different ways, we used touch math, flash cards, worksheets, ipad apps and anything else we could get our hands on. In the midst of these lessons we purchased each student a little pink piggy bank from Target. When students answered questions correctly, or completed an assignment they would get plastic coins that they would collect in their banks. Once every couple of weeks, the students would open their banks, count their coins and could purchase things from a class store.

The students LOVED their banks much more than we anticipated. We drew mustaches on the boy’s banks so they seemed a bit more masculine. The students named them and displayed them proudly on their desks.

So when it came time to start our store we knew that homage must be paid to the pigs who started it all.

From the beginning, we wanted our store to be more than just a typical school store. We wanted the name to reflect that we were setting a different standard. After throwing out “the Pretentious Pig” and then then “Swaggering Sow” we landed on the “Swanky Swine.”

Our mascot has a mustache and a monocle that of course are indicative of his style and class. However, most importantly the Swanky Swine is a pink piggy bank that represents that first small step towards big change in our students lives. He’s also inspired a growing collection of banks that are displayed in our school’s lobby,

AND an stylish t-shirt that is worn by our awesome supporters all over the country.

Every time someone asks “Why does that pig have a mustache?” it’s another chance to tell the story of a small school store that’s attempting to make big change. We believe the old adage, “From small beginnings come great things” and we have only just begun.